Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,770 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.4% during the second quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 9,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 3.8% in the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. TD Cowen upped their target price on Caterpillar from $287.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $279.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Caterpillar from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total value of $815,517.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,514,778. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $238.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.09. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.04 and a 12-month high of $293.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $262.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.65.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $5.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $16.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.57 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.69% and a return on equity of 56.29%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.